We Called The Number In The Black Keys’ ‘Fever’ Video & Here’s What Happened

Going to a rock concert has long been compared to participating in a religious ceremony, and The Black Keys have fun with that analogy in their new “Fever” video. When either experience is performed right, the audience comes away feeling moved to higher place, as if taken up by the spirit.

Maybe that’s why preachers were so against rock and roll in the first place — they thought bands were homing in on their territory. In the Theo-Wenner directed clip, The Black Keys, who will appear on “Saturday Night Live” on May 10, don’t do anything to alleviate that concern as they play the parts of retro-televangelists on a public-access broadcast.

Running across the bottom of the screen are a list of people who’ve supposedly donated already, including, as Rolling Stone points out, the mag’s own David Fricke. There’s also a number that you can call to donate, although when we tried the number, a very confused-sounding woman picked up. She doesn’t seem to know what’s going on or why she’s been getting calls all morning. That’s not very charitable, dudes.

Coming to us from Turn Blue (out May 13), “Fever” was produced by the band with Danger Mouse. The track works up a steady fever of its own, evoking the 1958 song of the same name by Peggy Lee, with keys that call to mind some of Danger Mouse’s recent work in Broken Bells.

“We are always trying to push ourselves when we make a record — not repeat our previous work but not abandon it either,” Carney explained of the recording process. “On this record, we let the songs breathe and explored moods, textures, and sounds.” Can i get an amen?